reciprocate

UK/ɹɪˈsɪpɹəˌkeɪt/US/ɹɪˈsɪpɹəˌkeɪt/

verbC1Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #10,560 of 15,258neutralformal · an editor’s judgement

Other forms: reciprocating, reciprocated, reciprocates

To reciprocate is to return a feeling or a favour in kind. They did something, and you do the same back.

It is used most often about feelings, and unreciprocated love is one of the standard subjects of every art form there has ever been. It also covers gestures and invitations, so reciprocating hospitality means having them round in return. Engineering has a precise sense, since a reciprocating engine has pistons moving back and forth. The noun is reciprocity, which in trade means each side granting the other the same terms.

Definitions of reciprocate

1verbreciprocateTo respond to an action or feeling with a matching one.C1
“She smiled and he reciprocated.”

Where it comes from

Reciprocate has the back-and-forth built into it. Latin reciprocus may come from the phrase reque proque, back and forth, so reciprocating is quite literally going both ways.

Latin
recīprocātus
English, today
reciprocate

Built from

recīprocō · Latin — to move back and forth
reque proque · Latin — back and forth
re- · Latin — back
prō · Latin — forwards

From Latin recīprocātus, perfect passive participle of recīprocō (“to move back and forth”) (see -ate), from reciprocus + -ō, itself possibly from a phrase such as reque proque (“back and forth”), from re- (“back”), prō (“forwards”) and -que (“and”). See also reciprocal. Compare French réciproquer.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 2 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word

reciprocate in the wild

The charging handle is located at the top of the gun and does not reciprocate during firing.
Atchisson AA-12
Cocking handles may or may not reciprocate along with the action of the firearm.
Cocking handle
The advantage of a reciprocating handle is that it gives the user complete control over the movement of the bolt and bolt carrier.
Cocking handle
Men generally reciprocate by giving women gifts on White Day, which is celebrated on March 14.
Giri choco
Associate value in the enterprise value equation is the reciprocate of minority interest.
Associate company

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the reque proque family

reciprocate reciprocal

reciprocate — used about once every 6,499 pages · #10,560 · point at the bar for the others

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